Round 16 Preview vs Cairns Taipans

The Adelaide 36ers are back to Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Friday night looking to repeat the dose from almost a month ago against the Cairns Taipans to return to the NBL winner's list.

It wouldn’t be out of place to say that both teams come into the Friday night Round 16 #NBL22 contest needing a win with the 36ers having lost their past five matches and the Taipans their previous four.

The last win the Sixers recorded was that 82-71 victory against the Taipans also at the Entertainment Centre back on February 20. They will be hoping for a repeat performance this Friday night, but need to be mindful that the Snakes arrive in town just as determined to get that elusive win too.

Coming into Friday's game, the 36ers are attempting to avoid losing five straight matches in Adelaide for the first time in a decade while the Taipans are still trying to win for the first time this season outside of Queensland.

The Sixers have won three of their four meetings with Cairns at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, including that victory last month where the 36ers steadied after conceding 13 of the first 14 points to win by 11 in the finish.

In that win, Daniel Johnson had 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists, captain Mitch McCarron 14 points, seven boards and five assists, Sunday Dech 13 points and five assists, and Dusty Hannahs 10 points.

Scoring has been a struggle in recent times for both teams as well with the 36ers only reaching 80 points once in their five-game losing streak while the Taipans have only got to 80 once in their last seven matches.

Adelaide will be hoping to produce a better shooting performance having taken 48 more shots than their opponents over the last two games but made three fewer. The Sixers have shot just 37.4 per cent over the last six matches, just ahead of Cairns at 39.4 per cent in that time frame.

Adelaide 36ers legend Scott Ninnis is hoping for an improvement performance from the Sixers on Friday night and is expecting nothing short of them coming away with the win.

"They have some tall, long athletes that do concern me but we just have to keep them out of transition and from getting easy baskets," Ninnis said on his Sixers Fix podcast this week.

"If you get them in a half-court situation they can struggle to score so it has to be a key focus to make them defend us, get a good shot and don't turn the ball over to let them run it down our throats. I think if we do that it will go a long way towards winning the game. 

"Knowing the guys and the frustrations they are having, we just need to come up with this win by hook or by crook on Friday night to give a little bit of confidence back into the legs so they can look forward to playing out the rest of the season and drag out a few more wins. 

"But this is an absolute key game for everyone including the fans who are paying their hard earned every week. They are going to want to see a team play hard, come out hungry and to win."

Then there is the Taipans. Coach Forde has tried everything to light a fire under his group. He has tried the tough love approach, he has tried the screaming approach and he has tried being calm and offering them a supporting shoulder.

Nothing he has tried has managed to get the group to play as a cohesive unit. There's in-fighting, there's frustration and clearly, the players aren’t following the game plan at times as well including not utilising their potential great advantage of taking toll of Stephen Zimmerman's talents on the block.

It was a challenge last week for the Snakes against two contending teams in the JackJumpers and Kings. They struggled to lose by a combined 25 points, but Adelaide present a different challenge for Forde and the Snakes.

"It's another team that's desperate for a win and we had a great first quarter last time we played, but it all went downhill after that," Forde said.

"We can't play well for two quarters, not for three quarters and not for five minutes in the fourth. We have to play and we have to play hard, and we need dudes to step up and step up they will. And if they don't, I've got some comfy seats next to me."

HUNGRY JACK'S 2021/22 NBL SEASON – ROUND 16

ADELAIDE 36ERS v CAIRNS TAIPANS
Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Friday 7.00pm ACDT

Broadcast – ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sport NZ